Carmack's DIY VR-Headset at E3

[plasticman]

So in other words, we could play as a scouting orb? --

 

The Wii has a Wiimote so there is at least something to grab and hold on. But I am really just guessing. I never tried any of this Wii or Kinect stuff myself.

 

All I do is close my eyes, imagine I was wearing a Rift and playing TDM with it, seeing the environment in 3D with lag-free head-tracking... ...then I just move my arm pretending I had a blackjack and see how it feels.

[woah]

In terms of input systems made feasible by VR, while I don't have any experience with them or high quality VR like the rift, I would think the imagination would compensate well enough for the haptic feedback aspect of it--especially if there's a risk/reward system in place (penalizing inconsistent actions) and visual indicators e.g. that draw two separate limbs when your limb's tracked location goes out of sync with what the physics engine says it should be. So, for example, when you stick your hand through a wall, you see "the real limb" (as far as the physics engine is concerned) pressed up against the wall, and also, say, a red outline of your limb's tracked location passing through the wall. The latter would only need to be displayed when there's an inconsistency.

 

And I think depth perception is the key difference in terms of believability of and confidence with a limb-mapping input system. If the brain is given accurate and consistent information about objects' distances from itself, this opens up a whole new range of possibilities that are otherwise too difficult (or too revolting, as I distinctly recall from trying to manipulate things on the screen--in "third person"--with the Novint Falcon). An input system that is as 1-to-1 and latency free as possible will be essential, of course.

 

A Thief-like game would be a perfect application of such input technology. Mantling (can you imagine climbing the geometry of the side of a building?), pick-pocketing, lock-picking, sword play, and what everyone else has covered--the context for it is all there. I think Oculus Rift support (granted it gets positional tracking) justifies itself in Thief due to the increased immersion, but to accompany it with such an input system might just be the holy grail for a Thief game.

 

I don't know, maybe the lack of haptic feedback nullifying any potential for the increased immersion of such an input system is a real possibility. But for now I can only use my imagination to analyze its feasibility, and given a visual perspective consistent enough with your actual one (and with depth perception, full FOV, tracking, etc etc), similarly consistent limb tracking (considerable software support to adjust for the inevitable inconsistencies), and some familiarization time, it certainly appears to be a real possibility. Of course I think it will be awkward at first to see your hand pass through a wall when you expect resistance, but to me it seems likely that once one gets comfortable and gives their brains some "training" time, the imagination will fill in the gaps left by the lack of haptic feedback.

 

I read an impression a while back where someone trying out the rift--even in its current immature state--dropped their controller on the ground because the ingame table they reached for in their periphery didn't actually exist, so that sounds promising. Of course this could just be hype from Oculus.

Edited March 21, 2013 by woah

[woah]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ovcEK9UbIo

 

This is a really good collection of 10 Oculus Rift impressions. Highly recommend checking it out if you're skeptical or just curious about what the experience is like.

Edited April 5, 2013 by woah

[plasticman]

The latest issue of german magazine c't features the Rift in a nice, informative article. The editors were among the first in Europe to receive their dev-kit, so they can report from a few days hands-on experience.

 

According to the article Oculus plans to ship a second, improved development kit in Q3 2013 with the consumer version following a year later.

 

There's also a concept I didn't see before:

It illustrates a possible consumer version with a pair of cameras. This would open up the possibility to "see through" to the real world. Source says "Oculus", so that's where the picture is from.

[jay pettitt]

This is sweet...